He understood that if the top players on Sandburg’s girls’ golf team kept improving, his 2014 squad would stand a good chance of making the 12-team Class AA championship field at season’s end.A group including Frankie Saban and Emily Cosler indeed continued to get better, but there was one thing about which Allen erred: With junior Saban and sophomore Cosler leading the way, the Eagles made the state finals last fall.“It’s a big deal down there,” Allen said. “Only 12 teams from the whole state go down, [so] it was an honor for us. I was proud of the girls for what they did.”Sandburg placed 11th at state, with Saban its highest individual finisher in the 54th position. Cosler deadlocked for 67th and freshman Emily McGiles tied for 96th.With everyone back the experience gained in 2013 could prove vital this year.

Winning a state championship is akin to munching on potato chips — after sampling one there’s a strong desire for more. Further snacking is easy, but repeating as a titlist requires far greater effort. However, if any group of Illinois high school athletes understands what’s needed to reign supreme in volleyball it’s the ones enrolled at Mother McAuley. The Mighty Macs became dynastic under the guidance of former coach Nancy Pedersen and, after a nine-year dry spell, returned to the mountaintop last fall. Forty victories — the last of which came against two-time defending Class 4A champion Benet Academy — made McAuley not only No. 1 in Illinois for the 14th time but highly ranked nationally as well. But that achievement wasn’t enough to sate the Macs.

Chicagoans are used to things not working out quite as expected whenever athletics are involved.Sure the Bulls had their shining moments during the 1990s, but you may not have noticed — the ‘90s ended 15 years ago, Chicago’s string of NBA championships one year prior to that. And while everything has also fallen into place properly for most of the city’s other pro sports teams on occasion, those represented accidents rather than official announcements of an impending championship-contending era.Being No. 1 is a concept older sports fans simply will not be able to ever fully embrace because history really hasn’t been all that kind to Chicagoans. But that doesn’t mean they abandon ship.Quite the contrary is in fact true. Chicago sports fans are a tenacious lot not prone to bandwagon-jumping, although there have been a few exceptions. Most notable were the young professionals who populated the United Center during Michael Jordan’s heyday but knew less about basketball than your Lawrence Welk-loving grandma.That yuppie faction sat courtside to be seen rather than to watch. When the titles stopped coming and the Bulls ceased being front-page news, the fair-weather fans exited almost immediately.Bears fans are a vastly different bunch, however. Fair weather or foul — and foul is the preferred atmospheric condition — they pack Soldier Field, sometimes with painted torsos, many times in less than a stone-cold-sober state. But while one could easily question their sanity, Bears fans’ dedication can’t be denied.

Orland Park residents Tony Majchrowicz and Patrick Lipscomb gave Silver Lake Country Club two notable achievements on the same day as both golfers registered holes-in-one during rounds of play on Aug. 16.Majchrowicz carded his ace on the 122-yard fourth hole of the North course, using an 8-iron to hit his shot. Lipscomb, meanwhile, covered the 118-yard distance of the South course’s 18th hole with just one shot. He used a 9-iron to sink his hole-in-one, which was witnessed by playing partners Joe Knight and Steven Schmidt, both of Orland.

“[I had] a perfectly smooth follow-through,” Lipscomb said. “[The shot] went sky high, dropped 3 feet in front [of the cup], bounced once and rolled in. I threw my arms in the air and let out a scream like a high school girl.”

Majchrowicz’s ball bounced twice on the green before hitting the bottom of the flagstick and dropping into the hole.

“Everyone around me started freaking out,” he said. “They gave me high-fives and were so happy for me.”

A goal by sophomore Patricio Arce in the 18th minute told the tale as St. Xavier University men’s soccer team dropped its 2014 season opener, 1-0, to No. 7-ranked University of Rio Grande (Ohio) Friday night at Bruce R. Deaton Field.

The Cougars’ defense was solid as the Red Storm were limited to five shots on goal for the match. SXU freshman Frank Valle played well in his collegiate debut as he stopped three shots while manning the net in the second half. Senior AJ Pfatschbacher handled the first-half goalkeeping chores and was credited with one save. The evening’s lone tally was set up by a cross from the left side by sophomore Jorge Andres Guinovart. Junior forward Marco Gutierrez led the Cougars’ offensive charge with three shots, including one on goal. Senior forward Lorenzo Savino registered SXU’s only other on-target shot. The Cougars resume play on Wednesday when they host Aquinas (Mich.) College at 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL Senior middle hitter Marie Hackert earned a spot on the all-tournament team as the Cougars split their first two matches of the season on Saturday at Grace College’s Wyndham Classic in Winona Lake, Ind. SXU defeated Indiana University-Kokomo 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 before falling to a straight-set loss against the host Lancers by scores of 25-20, 25-8, 25-18. Hackert paced the Cougars in their triumph by putting down a team-best 10 kills to go along with four block assists. Senior setter Kelli Shaffer dished out 26 assists, juniors Meghan Falsey and Heidi Gregerson each recorded four kills and three block assists, senior Jessica Galotta (Mother McAuley) totaled six kills and eight digs, and senior libero Dominique Aramburu (Mother McAuley) had 17 digs to further aid SXU’s cause. Complete stats for Saturday's second match against Grace College were not provided due to a computer malfunction. The Cougars squared off against Clarke (Iowa) University in a road match this past Wednesday.